Chilling commentary are good news for koalas

University of Queensland investigate into a cold storage of koala semen has vital implications for a assisted tact and genetic farrago of serf and furious populations.

UQ School of Agriculture and Food Sciences PhD tyro Bridie Schultz pronounced her investigate valid it was probable to store viable koala spermatazoa during 5°C for adult to 45 days after collection.

“Being means to store semen longer will advantage many critical koala government projects, such as illness detection, inhabitant and general transportation, and overcoming a need to synchronise semen collection to a conflict of womanlike koalas being in heat,” she said.

Bridie Schultz. Credit: The University of Queensland

“This length of cold storage almost exceeds a ability of any other famous mammalian spermatazoa to tarry outward a physique but cryopreservation (freezing).

“It has usually been finished in dual fish class – rainbow fish and halibut.”

“However, a ideal would be to extend cold refuge to 33 days – a normal time of an oestrous cycle in a koala – a limit duration we would need to wait for any koala to come into passionate receptivity in sequence to inseminate.

Ms Schultz pronounced a ability to extend koala spermatazoa viability also practical to another aspect of her investigate – recuperating spermatazoa from upheld or infirm masculine koalas.

“More than 2000 masculine koalas are killed any year by cars, dogs, illness and detriment of habitat, and apparently once they die they can’t minister to a genetic farrago of their race around procreation,” she said.

“Sperm recovered from a testicles of upheld koalas is of a high adequate peculiarity for artificially inseminating females, and can be rigorously tested before to insemination to safeguard no transmittable diseases such as chlamydia are passed.

Ms Schultz pronounced a genetic send of koala semen into separate females would assistance emanate a vital genome apparatus bank for koala conservation, instead of a solidified genome apparatus bank as used in other species.